Chapter 688

Chapter 688: The Haunted House

"Higher Steward, this is the last house we can view today," Xiao Song said, wiping the sweat from his brow under the blazing sun. His throat felt parched, and despite his achievements in Qi Training, he was not yet impervious to the elements. Accompanying his guest around half of the immortal city had left him utterly drained.

Yet, as the newly appointed Pawnbroker, Xiao Song was determined to secure this deal, no matter how taxing it was. "If this one doesn’t meet your expectations, I can find a few more suitable options for you tomorrow!"

Unsatisfied? In truth, Wang Chen was quite taken with the house they had just visited. Though modest in size, it boasted a private courtyard and a quiet room, was well-situated, and was rich in spiritual energy. The only drawback was the steep rent—so steep that even Wang Chen, who once possessed millions of spirit stones, felt the pinch. After calculating his daily expenses, he still couldn’t bring himself to commit.

Adding to his hesitation was the landlord’s unyielding attitude. The man refused to lower the rent by even a single spirit stone and looked down on Wang Chen, who desired a good house but lacked the funds. This arrogance was infuriating.

Yet, it was a harsh reality that desirable properties in Yongle Immortal City were always in demand, and the rents reflected that. "You’ve worked hard," Wang Chen said, feeling a pang of guilt for the Pawnbroker who had tirelessly accompanied him. "If nothing else is available, we can call it a day."

As he spoke, Wang Chen handed Xiao Song a few spirit stones. "Take this as a token of my appreciation for your efforts."

Clutching the spirit stones, Xiao Song hesitated, then glanced around before leading Wang Chen aside. In a hushed tone, he said, "Higher Steward, my uncle owns a house similar to this one. It’s been vacant for a while, and the rent is quite affordable."

Wang Chen’s interest was piqued. "What’s the catch?"

Xiao Song gave a rueful smile. "It’s a haunted house."

"A haunted house?" Wang Chen repeated, unfamiliar with the term.

Xiao Song explained, "A haunted house is a property where strange occurrences are frequent. Most people avoid living in such places."

So, it was a ghost house! Wang Chen was even more puzzled. "If there have been strange incidents, why hasn’t it been reported to the Patrol Office?" After all, the Exorcism division, which he had recently joined, dealt with such matters. What a coincidence!

However, Xiao Song’s response left Wang Chen both amused and exasperated.

It turned out that unless there were casualties or it affected the safety of the neighbors, reporting such situations to the Patrol Office required a substantial fee for them to send someone to handle it.

The Patrol Office was a major authority in the immortal city; could ordinary citizens summon and dismiss their officials at will?

Xiao Song’s uncle was reluctant to pay that fee and was also worried that even the Patrol Office might not be able to resolve the issue.

However, if someone was called in, spirit stones would still need to be handed over!

"Really?"

Wang Chen found it hard to believe—how could a mere haunted house be something that the Patrol Office couldn’t handle?

This wasn’t his former world of technology with blind spots regarding metaphysics; could spellcasting and talismans not cleanse away the unclean?

It could be true!

In fact, such haunted houses were not isolated cases—Xiao Song knew of at least a dozen.

These haunted houses were mostly vacant or abandoned. Some who didn’t believe in the supernatural or who were overconfident in their cultivation level moved in, only to move out quickly, keeping their experiences shrouded in secrecy.

In fact, the Patrol Office had investigated some haunted houses in the past, but nothing ever came of it.

Haunted houses were not murder houses; they only scared people but didn’t kill!

After understanding the situation, Wang Chen decided to take the Pawnbroker to a nearby teahouse to rest, sipping spiritual tea while gathering more information to decide whether to check out that house.

Xiao Song, eager to make a sale to Wang Chen, shared everything he knew without holding back.

This house was originally used by his uncle to house an external residence.

The tenant was a reformed songstress from the brothels, who was favored by Xiao Song’s uncle for her beauty and understanding nature, which led to him neglecting his legitimate wife.

However, his partner was not an easy person; her family had considerable influence and quickly gathered a group to raid the external residence.

They captured the songstress, sealed her powers, stripped her bare, and threw her into the street to be humiliated, stopping only when the Patrol Office intervened.

Though the songstress did not die at that moment, after being rescued, she hanged herself at home.

After that, strange occurrences began to happen in the house.

Some said it was disturbed by evil spirits, but neither exorcism nor spellcasting had any effect.

Xiao Song’s uncle was utterly humiliated and extremely distressed due to these events.

He initially wanted to sell the haunted house, but the commotion was so great that everyone knew about it. Who would want to pay a high price for an unlucky haunted house?

Not wanting to sell it for a low price either, he entrusted Xiao Song to rent it out.

The uncle’s plan was clever; if someone rented the house, lived there for a few years without incident, they could naturally cleanse its name.

Then selling it at a normal price would be easy.

However, things didn’t go as planned, as two previous tenants who sought a bargain had been scared away!

"So you want to rent it to me?"

Wang Chen laughed and said, "Do I look like a fool?"

"I wouldn’t dare!"

Xiao Song hurriedly explained, "I just felt that the Higher Steward is extraordinary; perhaps you have the ability to exorcise and subdue evil spirits, so…."

Though Xiao Song had a personal motive in promoting this haunted house, he didn’t dare deceive Wang Chen in any way.

"Let’s go."

Wang Chen dropped a few spirit stones and stood up, saying, "Let’s go take a look."

Xiao Song had a keen eye; he was least afraid of supernatural occurrences. If the house was suitable, purchasing it wasn’t out of the question!

Xiao Song’s uncle’s house was not far from them and was in a better location than the one Wang Chen had seen earlier.

However, because the house had been unoccupied for a long time, it felt icy inside even in the heat of summer and was filled with an uncomfortable smell. The yard was piled with fallen leaves, and the rooms were covered in dust.

Xiao Song felt awkward. "Higher Steward…."

Wang Chen raised his hand to interrupt him and asked straightforwardly, "Ask your uncle if this house is for sale?"

At a normal price, he couldn’t afford this house.

But if it truly was a haunted house, there might be a possibility of acquiring it.

Wang Chen planned to give it a try.

After receiving Xiao Song’s talisman, his uncle, the landlord, hurried over.

This high-level Qi Training cultivator from the Purple Palace appeared refined and elegant, exuding an otherworldly aura.

Unfortunately, one could know the appearance but not the heart of a person; his character was quite lacking.

However, Wang Chen was not a judge in a moral court and had no interest in judging the other’s faults.

He truly wanted to buy this house.

The issue was that the initial price he quoted was quite high, leading Wang Chen to suspect he had entered the wrong place!